Programming disruption diagnostics

Abstract

Various arrangements for monitoring and utilizing solar conjunction events are presented. An occurrence of a solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with the satellite antenna through which a television receiver receives signals from one or more satellites may be monitored. A prediction of a future solar conjunction event based on the monitored occurrence of the solar conjunction event may then be calculated. A second occurrence of the solar conjunction event may be monitored. It may be determined that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within a threshold range. One or more features of the television receiver may be disabled in response to determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A television receiver comprising:
 one or more tuners communicatively coupled with a satellite antenna; 
 one or more processors; 
 a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 monitor, via the one or more tuners, an occurrence of a solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with the satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from one or more satellites; 
 calculate a prediction of a future solar conjunction event based on the monitored occurrence of the solar conjunction event; 
 monitor, via the one or more tuners, a second occurrence of the solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with the satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from the one or more satellites; 
 determine that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within a threshold range; and 
 disable one or more features of the television receiver in response to determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The television receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the processor-readable instructions that cause the one or more processors to calculate the prediction of the future solar conjunction event comprises processor-readable instructions that cause the one or more processors to calculate a future date and a future time for the future solar conjunction event, wherein determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range is at least partially based on the calculated future date and future time. 
     
     
       3. The television receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to determine a location of the television receiver. 
     
     
       4. The television receiver of  claim 2 , wherein the location of the television receiver is based on stored user account information. 
     
     
       5. The television receiver of  claim 2 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to: based on the location, obtain an estimate for when the occurrence of the solar conjunction event is to occur. 
     
     
       6. The television receiver of  claim 5 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to start monitoring for the solar conjunction event based upon the obtained estimate for when the occurrence of the solar conjunction event is to occur. 
     
     
       7. The television receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:
 record a duration of a programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       8. The television receiver of  claim 7 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:
 record a second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       9. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to: perform a comparison of the duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event with the second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
     
     
       10. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein disabling the one or more features of the television receiver is further based on the comparison of the duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event with the second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
     
     
       11. The television receiver of  claim 1 , wherein the processor-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to disable the one or more features of the television receiver comprise processor-readable instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more processors to output a message for presentation on a television that instructs a user to contact customer support of a service provider. 
     
     
       12. The television receiver of  claim 1 , further comprising a network interface, wherein the processor-readable instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to alert a service provider via the network interface that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range. 
     
     
       13. A method for utilizing solar conjunction events, comprising:
 monitoring, via one or more tuners of a television receiver, an occurrence of a solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with a satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from one or more satellites; 
 calculating a prediction of a future solar conjunction event based on the monitored occurrence of the solar conjunction event; 
 monitoring, via the one or more tuners of the television receiver, a second occurrence of the solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with the satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from the one or more satellites; 
 determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within a threshold range; and 
 disabling one or more features of the television receiver in response to determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range. 
 
     
     
       14. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 calculating a future date and a future time for the future solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       15. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 based on the location, obtaining an estimate for when the occurrence of the solar conjunction event is to occur. 
 
     
     
       16. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 initiating monitoring for the solar conjunction event based upon the obtained estimate for when the occurrence of the solar conjunction event is to occur. 
 
     
     
       17. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 recording a duration of a programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event; and 
 recording a second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       18. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 performing a comparison of the duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event with the second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       19. The method for utilizing solar conjunction events of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 wherein disabling the one or more features of the television receiver is further based on the comparison of the duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the solar conjunction event with the second duration of the programming stream disruption associated with the second solar conjunction event. 
 
     
     
       20. A non-transitory processor-readable medium comprising processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors of a television receiver to:
 monitor, via one or more tuners of the television receiver, an occurrence of a solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with a satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from one or more satellites; 
 calculate a prediction of a future solar conjunction event based on the monitored occurrence of the solar conjunction event; 
 monitor, via the one or more tuners, a second occurrence of the solar conjunction event caused by the sun being substantially aligned with the satellite antenna through which the television receiver receives signals from the one or more satellites; 
 determine that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within a threshold range; and 
 disable one or more features of the television receiver in response to determining that the second occurrence of the solar conjunction event does not match the calculated prediction of the future solar conjunction event within the threshold range.